INTERVIEW: “The weekend’s protests were the Russian peoples’, not the opposition’s” – Maxim Reznik
Western Balkans citizens legally resident in EU equal to 14% of region’s population
International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has stripped Belarus of the right to hold the World Championship this year
Alexei Navalny arrested on arrival as he returns home
Russia's NorNickel adopts blockchain for supply chain management
Russia goes ahead with eSIM technology
Russia's retailer X5 Group posts 13% sales growth in 4Q20
National Bank of Ukraine retains a key policy rate at 6%, the outlook of the CPI deteriorates
Western Balkans and Ukraine urged to scrutinise coal subsidies
Oligarchs trying to derail Ukraine’s privatisation programme, warns the head of Ukraine’s State Property Fund
VISEGRAD BLOG: Central Europe's populists need a new strategy for Biden
LONG READ: The oligarch problem
OUTLOOK 2021 Lithuania
EBRD says loan to Estonia’s controversial Porto Franco project was never disbursed
Czech MPs pass protectionist food law in violation of EU rules
M&A in Central and Eastern Europe fell 16% in value in 2020, says CMS report
Hungarian vehicle makers hit by supply chain shortage
COVID-19 and Trump’s indifference helped human rights abusers in 2020
Polish industrial production continues boom in December
OUTLOOK 2021 Poland
OUTLOOK 2021 Slovakia
BRICKS & MORTAR: Rosier future beckons for CEE retailers after year of change and disruption
FDI inflows to CEE down 58% in 1H20 but rebound expected
Pandemic pushes public debt close to 80% of GDP in Albania and Montenegro
BALKAN BLOG: Superstition and resentment surround vaccination plans
Albania needs reforms for e-commerce to thrive, says World Bank
Bosnia's exports in 2020 amounted to BAM10.5bn, trade deficit to BAM6.3bn
Retailers and restaurant owners threaten protests in Bulgaria if reopening is delayed
Bulgaria's Biodit first company to IPO on new BEAM market
Bulgaria’s government considers gradual easing of COVID-related restrictions
Spring lockdown caused spike in online transactions in Croatia
ING: Growth in the Balkans: from zero to hero again?
Labour demand down 28% y/y in Croatia in 2020
Kosovo’s biggest opposition party risks being unable to run in general election
OUTLOOK 2021 Moldova
Storming parliaments: New Europe's greatest hits
World Bank revises projection for Moldova’s 2020 GDP decline to 7.2%
Montenegro’s special prosecution probes finance minister over €750mn Eurobond issue
North Macedonia plans to cut personal income tax in IT sector to zero in 2023
Romania government to pursue “ambitious” timetable for justice reforms
Private finance mobilised by development banks up 9% to $175bn in 2019
OUTLOOK 2021 Romania
BALKAN BLOG: US approach to switch from quick-fix dealmaking to experience and cooperation
Slovenia’s economic sentiment indicator up 2.2 pp m/m in January
Slovenia lost €10bn by neglecting wood industry for decades
OUTLOOK 2021 Slovenia
Slovenia’s opposition files no-confidence motion against Jansa cabinet
D’S Damat franchise deals ‘show Turkey’s hard-pressed mall operators becoming their own tenants’
Turkey’s benchmark rate held as concerns over faltering recovery come to fore
Turkish lira breaches HSBC’s stop-loss, Turkey ETF signalling outflows
CAUCASUS BLOG : What can Biden offer the Caucasus and Stans, all but forgotten about by Trump?
Armenia ‘to extend life of its 1970s Metsamor nuclear power plant after 2026’
OUTLOOK 2021 Armenia
OUTLOOK 2021 Azerbaijan
OUTLOOK 2021 Georgia
Iran’s President Khamenei menaces private citizen Trump
Iran’s technology minister indicted for failing to properly implement internet censorship
No US move to rejoin Iran nuclear deal imminent, say Biden national security nominees
TEHRAN BLOG: Will Biden bet on a quick return to the Iran nuclear deal?
Central Asia vaccination plans underwhelm, but governments look unruffled
Fears of authoritarianism as Kyrgyz populist wins landslide and backing for ‘Khanstitution’
Mongolia, island of democracy
OUTLOOK 2021 Mongolia
Mongolia's PM quits amid protests over treatment of mother with coronavirus and newborn baby
Mongolia's winter dzud set to be one of most extreme on record says Red Cross
OUTLOOK 2021 Tajikistan
OUTLOOK 2021 Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan: How the Grinch stole New Year
COMMENT: Uzbekistan is being transformed, but where are the democratic reforms?
Download the pdf version
More...
Bulgaria’s prosecution arrested Plamen Uzunov and Ilia Milushev, advisors to President Rumen Radev, and businessman Plamen Bobokov, after raiding the offices of the presidency on July 9, it said in a statement.
The three were detained for 24 hours for alleged trade of influence, the prosecution said but provided no further details. It announced that it will have to analyse the documents it confiscated in the raid in order to decide whether it can charge Uzunov and Bobokov.
The arrests came hours after the specialised prosecution entered the presidency to raid the offices of Uzunov and Milushev.
There is speculation that the action was intended to silence Radev, who has been the loudest critic of the government and the prosecution for months.
On the same day, the state security body, DANS, said it ended the access to classified information that Uzunov and Milushev had in their role as Radev’s advisors, claiming they are now a security risk and should not have this access.
Bulgaria’s specialised prosecution announced several days ago it was investigating Uzunov and local prosecutor Nikolay Nikolov over suspected trading of influence. It claimed to have received information on Uzunov and Nikolov’s activities during another investigation into alleged involvement in illegal waste imports by the Bobokov brothers who own the Monbat lead-acid batteries company.
At the time, the prosecution publicly reported chats between one of the brothers – Plamen Bobokov – and Uzunov and Nikolov. Everyone involved has denied all of the accusations and, according to their lawyers, the prosecution has no proof of such activity.
A timely distraction
There is speculation that the July 9 raid at the presidency aims to divert attention from another potential scandal concerning Ahmed Dogan, chairman of honour of the Movement of Rights and Freedoms (DPS) and one of the most powerful politicians in Bulgaria.
Hristo Ivanov, leader of the opposition party Da Bulgaria, posted a video on Facebook showing how he went by boat to Dogan’s secluded private villa. The video shows he was pushed away by Dogan’s security services. Ivanov says this was illegal as the beach is supposed to be free for the public to use.
On July 8, Radev confirmed the guards were members of the National Security Service (NSO) and that he is demanding an investigation into why they were providing services to Dogan. The NSO is obliged to protect MPs, ministers, presidents and other top public officials but Dogan does not hold any of these posts. Moreover, Radev said he believes the NSO should not provide services to controversial businessman Delyan Peevski, a DPS MP who is believed to be Dogan’s right hand man.
After the video was released, supporters of Democratic Bulgaria – a non-parliamentary opposition coalition of which Da Bulgaria is a member – started organising a gathering on the beach in front of Dogan’s villa on Saturday. So far, more than 5,000 people have said they will take part, while more than 22,000 said they are support it and might go.
Osman Oktai, former deputy-leader of the DPS, said as quoted by Dnevnik news outlet that those in power are panicked about possible mass gatherings at Dogan’s villa. He said he has information from his sources that the NSO dismissed the guards immediately after Ivanov’s revelation but an earlier date was written on their dismissal documents, in order to cover up the situation.
Oktai also said that, according to his information, the company Hermes Solar, which formally owns the villa, plans to lift the barrier that blocks access on July 9.
On July 9, Geshev said he would not trigger an investigation in the access to the beach in front of Dogan’s villa, claiming the requests to investigate are “political games” in which the prosecution will not participate. Geshev also made a rather controversial statement that the prosecution’s goals are to pursue “conventional crimes” that affect the lives of ordinary people.
Also on July 9 the ruling coalition decided unexpectedly that it should re-introduce some restrictions, including the ban on public gatherings, according to Valeri Simeonov, the leader of the National Front for Salvation of Bulgaria (NFSB), which is a junior coalition partner of the ruling Gerb party.
The decision comes a day after Prime Minister Boyko Borissov announced there would be no new restrictions despite the rising number of new coronavirus (COVID-19) cases. On July 9, the authorities reported 240 confirmed cases, but this figure came after the number of tests carried out in the past 24 hours was almost doubled. There had been speculation that the authorities ordered the hike in testing to get an excuse to impose new restrictions.
Register here to continue reading this article and 5 more for free or purchase 12 months full website access including the bne Magazine for just $250/year.
Register to read the bne monthly magazine for free:
Already registered
Password could contain only a-z0-9\+*?[^]$(){}=!<>|:-_ characters and have 8-20 symbols length.
Please complete your registration by confirming your email address.
A confirmation email has been sent to the email address you provided.
Forgotten password?
Email field can't be empty.
No user with this email address.
Access recovery request has expired, or you are using the wrong recovery token. Please, try again.
Access recover request has expired. Please, try again.
To continue viewing our content you need to complete the registration process.
Please look for an email that was sent to with the subject line "Confirmation bne IntelliNews access". This email will have instructions on how to complete registration process. Please check in your "Junk" folder in case this communication was misdirected in your email system.
If you have any questions please contact us at sales@intellinews.com
Sorry, but you have used all your free articles fro this month for bne IntelliNews. Subscribe to continue reading for only $119 per year.
Your subscription includes:
For the meantime we are also offering a free subscription to bne's digital weekly newspaper to subscribers to the online package.
Click here for more subscription options, including to the print version of our flagship monthly magazine:
More subscription options
Take a trial to our premium daily news service aimed at professional investors that covers the 30 countries of emerging Europe:
Get IntelliNews PRO
For any other enquiries about our products or corporate discounts please contact us at sales@intellinews.com
If you no longer wish to receive our emails, unsubscribe here.
Magazine annual electronic subscription
Magazine annual print subscription
Website & Archive annual subscription
Combined package: web access & magazine print annual subscription